It’s official, we’re finally in the home stretch before we hit the busiest season for businesses and marketers alike, Black Friday and Cyber Monday. Are you confident your e-commerce store is ready to handle the influx of traffic and sales? Here are six last-minute things you can do right now to push your Black Friday and Cyber Monday preparations past the finish line.
Encourage Visitors to Subscribe Before Launching your Sales
Now more than ever, is the crucial time to build your email subscriber list with potential customers before launching your BFCM (Black Friday Cyber Monday) sales. Studies have shown that people are more likely to make a purchase from an email compared to other marketing tactics. Try putting the call out on social media for your followers to subscribe and maybe even set up some targeted ads aimed at your ideal customer (or past visitors) promising juicy BFCM deals delivered right to their inbox.
Consider sending out a teaser email or two to your existing subscribers to get them excited about your upcoming sales, so when the time comes to send out your first sale email, you already have an interested audience.
Go the Distance with Your Marketing
If you’re still living in the days of traditional advertising techniques, it’s time we break the news to you and let you know that it no longer works. It’s time to get creative. Renowned ecommerce stores are leaning towards authentic storytelling. If your marketing strategy is solely sales based, consider ways you can humanize your business and connect with customers. Things like donating to charities, sharing behind the scenes, or behind the brand stories can make a huge difference.
Triple Check Your Sales Logistics
Nothing frustrates a customer more than a faulty discount code, broken hyperlink, or other technical issues. Like santa, check, check, and check again all the logistics that are involved or scattered throughout your ecommerce store. Run through each link in every email you plan to send, make sure your discount codes are spelled correctly wherever they’re advertised, ensure every product on sale has been priced correctly, and make sure any free shipping offers are properly set up! This is crucial to ensure your customer experience is pleasant.
Be sure to include important details about your sale throughout your marketing such as the day and time it starts and ends, according to your timezone. Make sure your customers have all the information they need to make a purchase right in front of them. This will help keep your conversions up and your customer service requests down.
Prepare Your Customer Service
As traffic continues to increase over the holiday season, you will likely see an increase in customer service needs. Even with all of your careful attention to detail, there will still be customers who still need care, and assistance to inevitably convert. The demand for service can be high especially during BFCM, so make sure your customer service team is prepared to offer a helping hand no matter what happens.
If you have the option, consider adding a live chat function to your online store to make it quick and easy for customers to ask questions, while keeping them in your store and shopping.
Have a Backup Plan
What is your plan if you sell out of inventory? What happens if the shipping company you use is delayed? Preparing yourself by asking the right questions and planning for the worst case scenario might be what saves your BFCM if something does go awry. This year has seen more than its fair share of shipping delays and supplier shortages, so protect your business by preparing for all possible nightmares.
Let Us Take Digital Off Your Plate
Good Commerce is based in Vancouver, BC. We’re available to chat via email, video call, or over the phone. If you have any questions, or you’d like to discuss how we could help your business, we’d love to hear from you! Send us your question, and we’ll be in touch with you as soon as possible or call 778-668-9361.